A paroled murderer living in Oak Park since February was arrested after brief foot chases by Oak Park police?#34;first early Sunday morning, then again Monday morning.

Michael Hynes, 38, was wanted on a battery charge for allegedly punching a woman in an Elmwood Park bar last Saturday evening. According to Elmwood Park police, Hynes, who fled before police arrived, was said to be carrying a gun by one witness. Elmwood Park police called their Oak Park counterparts and requested that they determine whether Hynes had gone to his Oak Park residence in the 700 block of North Marion Street.

When officers showed up at Hynes' address around 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Hynes spotted them and fled on foot. He was apprehended after a short chase.

"When they tackled him and got him down, they found he had a gun in the back of his waist band," said Oak Park Deputy Chief Robert Scianna, who added that Hynes never had a chance to pull the gun. Had he done so, said Scianna, he would have been charged with attempted murder.

During a subsequent custody search, Hynes was also allegedly found to be in possession of a quantity of marijuana. He was charged with unlawful use of a weapon for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a controlled substance.

Monday morning police added a second felony charge for an escape attempt. As Hynes was being led in handcuffs to a waiting transport van for the ride to the Maybrook Courthouse, he pushed away from an Oak Park officer and bolted up the ramp from the police basement and ran across the street. He was arrested less than two minutes later in a backyard in the 500 block of South Taylor. Hynes had somehow managed to slip out of his handcuffs. When police caught up with him, he reportedly resisted arrest vigorously.

"He didn't go down easy," said Scianna. "He had a lot to lose."

Hynes has spent little of his adult life outside prison. According to articles in the Chicago Tribune archives, on November 12, 1985, Hynes, then 19 and allegedly a gang member living in Chicago, was convicted of murder by a jury in a Nov. 9, 1984 drive by shooting. That shooting took the life of 14 year old St. Patrick high school freshman Anthony Bermudez, who was walking home from a park at the time. Hynes, who allegedly shouted gang slogans out the windows of the car along with his companions, was later found hiding under a porch. Hynes was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the killing. He was paroled last February 17 after serving 19 years of that sentence.

According to Elmwood Park police, Hynes still faces that original battery charge, which will be added to the three charges filed by Oak Park police. Meanwhile, Oak Park police will be looking at their prisoner transfer procedures in the wake of Hynes' disturbing, if only momentarily successful, escape. Of particular concern is Hynes' ability to shed his hand cuffs.